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Venezuelan Catholics honor Saint Peter

Faithful, dressed in colonial era clothing and wearing handkerchiefs representing the colors of the political parties of the time, take part in the annual San Pedro Parranda in Guatire, Venezuela on June 29, 2012. The celebration is believed to have originated in the 19th century by the black slave Maria Ignacia, who believed that San Pedro, or Saint Peter, had answered her prayers and began singing and dancing through the town as she had promised if the saint granted her the miracle of healing her daughter. Today residents carry on the tradition, mostly men, who take to the streets with maracas, singing folk songs dedicated to San Pedro.